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Chapter 928: The Helpless Dark Lord
Chapter 928: The Helpless Dark Lord
Late at night, in a secluded and filthy alley, a dark figure appeared out of thin air, sneaking cautious glances to the left and right. After confirming that the coast was clear, the figure quickly vanished into the depths of the alley.
The wizard stopped in front of an old house and, with a tense glance around, knocked on the wooden door. As the door creaked open, he slipped inside.
Upon entering, the wizard seemed to relax. He glanced at the middle-aged man who had opened the door for him and made his way towards the blazing fireplace. He half-crouched beside an armchair and addressed the infant reclining on it. "Master, I'm back."
Lord Voldemort opened his crimson eyes and rasped, "Have you made contact?"
"Yes, we're in touch."
As he spoke, Peter Pettigrew, the small, stuttering Death Eater, reached into his robe pocket and withdrew a letter. He tore it open, intending to read it to Voldemort, but upon noticing another person in the room, he waved his wand at the wizard, gesturing for him to leave.
Bartemius "Barty" Crouch Jr.'s letter contained a mix of mundane topics, but Peter was able to piece together certain words to form a hidden message.
To prevent Dumbledore from intercepting and reading the letters, they resorted to the most primitive form of encryption—a completely manual process, devoid of any magic.
Yes, it was tedious, but if Dumbledore ever decided to inspect the letters, even the most sophisticated magic would struggle to conceal their true content from his keen eyes.
"Barty hasn't been found out, but Dumbledore is aware that he's alive and suspects he might be hiding within Hogwarts," Peter said, spending several minutes deciphering the first part of the message on the parchment. He stole a glance at Voldemort and continued, "He also mentioned divination in the letter."
"Divination?"
There was an odd note in Voldemort's voice. His current state was, after all, linked to a prophecy made through divination.
"Barty believes that this is likely related to that Muggle-born, Albert Anderson," Peter said, now understanding why he had been caught the last time.
"Are you suggesting that Muggle-born is a seer?"
Voldemort's raspy voice carried a hint of anger—the anger of being toyed with.
"That's what Barty wrote, Master," Peter said, bowing his head in trepidation while also trying to shift the blame elsewhere to avoid incurring Voldemort's wrath.
"I know how much you detest that Muggle-born," Voldemort said suddenly.
"I do, Master, but..." Peter stammered.
"That is no excuse for lying. Don't you know that seers are the most lineage-conscious of all professions?"
In the wizarding world, renowned and powerful seers inherited their divination abilities through their bloodline, and they were even rarer than Squibs.
A Muggle-born wizard would have no lineage to speak of.
However, Voldemort overlooked one crucial point—the first seers had awakened their divination abilities without any connection to bloodlines, and they often possessed considerable divination powers. While the probability of such an occurrence was almost negligible, it was not impossible.
The real issue was the ambiguity of Albert's identity as a Muggle-born wizard, and Voldemort, with his obsession with pureblood supremacy, would never acknowledge such a possibility.
"I believe that Muggle-born is a ticking time bomb. Barty seems to think so, too," Peter added hastily.
"Enough!" Voldemort snapped impatiently.
Indeed, Voldemort subconsciously looked down on Muggle-born wizards. In his eyes, they were nothing but Mudbloods, and no matter how talented they might be, he could easily dispose of them once he regained his full power.
Peter knew when to stop pushing, so he refrained from further attempts to sway the Dark Lord. He pulled out another piece of parchment and continued, "Barty is requesting our help in gathering ingredients for his Polyjuice Potion. If we can't provide them, he'll have no choice but to leave Hogwarts before the potion runs out."
"See to it that Barty gets his ingredients," Voldemort ordered.
"Well..." Peter hesitated for a moment before suggesting in a low voice, "Master, won't you consider finding a substitute? I think, given the current situation, you should focus on regaining your true power as soon as possible..."
"Is that so, Wormtail?" Voldemort's cold tone was like a slap across Peter's face, silencing him instantly.
Voldemort insisted on using Harry Potter's blood for his resurrection, and he had his reasons. It was linked to a certain cause and effect concerning Potter.
Over a decade ago, Harry Potter's mother had died trying to protect him, unintentionally granting Potter a form of protection through ancient magic. This magic still lingered, making it extremely difficult for Voldemort to kill Harry Potter himself. It could potentially become his fatal weakness, but... if he used Potter's blood to resurrect himself, that problem would be eliminated.
"How are the preparations coming along?"
Voldemort asked the question that was uppermost in his mind—the matter that Peter had been busy with lately.
The last time, they had almost succeeded, but Dumbledore had ruined their plans.
"We're still missing a few things. With our frequent activities lately, it's best to procure the remaining items elsewhere," Peter said quietly, explaining his arrangements. "As for the ingredients, I've hidden them in the home of a Muggle under my control. Even in an emergency, we won't have to worry about a repeat of the last incident."
Having learned from their previous failures, Peter was much more cautious this time. He had not only taken control of a wizard with the Imperius Curse and occupied his home as a temporary base, but he had also controlled a Muggle with the same curse and hidden the collected ingredients in their yard to avoid another raid.
After being ambushed twice, Peter was wary of their current hideout, and he knew that lightning could strike the same place twice, or even thrice.
Concerned for his own safety, Peter had also kept a backup plan—he had prepared multiple sets of ingredients for Voldemort's resurrection. Should danger arise, he could call upon the Dark Lord to protect him, and even if they had to abandon the infant body, Voldemort could quickly regain a physical form with Peter's help.
"I'm tired," Voldemort said, his voice unable to hide his fatigue. This body, crafted through dark magic, was still too fragile, and he had not fully recovered.
However, Voldemort was unaware that the Muggle-born he had scorned had quietly prepared another surprise for him.
...
...
Sirius Black had been in the Netherlands for some time now, secretly searching for Peter Pettigrew while disguised as another wizard. He wanted to ensure that Peter wouldn't flee if he discovered his presence, but so far, his efforts had been fruitless.
This wasn't surprising. If a wizard truly wanted to hide, finding them was no easy task, especially with limited resources and time constraints.
Finally, Sirius Black resorted to the unreliable suggestion Albert had taught him. He took a Felix Felicis, hoping that with a bit of good luck, he might be able to track down Peter Pettigrew.
As it turned out, Sirius' luck was indeed quite good, and he soon stumbled upon an idea.
Following his intuition, Sirius paid a visit to the Ministry of Magic in the Netherlands and informed the wizards of that country about Peter.
Sirius intended to enlist their help in flushing Peter out of his rat hole.
However, the Dutch Ministry of Magic wasn't particularly interested in the matter. They were well aware of how dangerous Voldemort could be and had no desire to provoke him.
More importantly, Voldemort's activities were mostly centered in Britain, so other countries were content to sit back and watch the chaos from a distance. As a result, persuading them to capture Peter was no easy task.
But this wasn't a problem for Sirius Black under the influence of Felix Felicis. He soon managed to convince them.
Firstly, the bounty on Peter's head was high enough to catch anyone's attention, even the Ministry's. Three thousand Galleons was a substantial reward. Secondly, they would not be dealing with Voldemort himself but with Peter Pettigrew, a fugitive attempting to resurrect the Dark Lord.
Dealing with a fugitive was a far cry from confronting the Dark Lord himself.
Lastly, Sirius provided the Dutch Ministry with information on Peter's hiding place. How could they resist such a juicy opportunity?
In their eyes, this was a chance to make a significant gain.
As for Sirius' scheme, it was simply to use the Ministry's hands to eliminate Peter Pettigrew. They didn't mind helping him fulfill his revenge, as there were no conflicting interests between them.
By capturing or even killing Peter, the Dutch Ministry stood to gain a substantial bounty from the British Ministry of Magic, and their diplomatic relations would also improve.
The entire Ministry sprang into action, citing the need to combat Dark Wizards and prevent Voldemort's resurrection in the Netherlands. They swiftly sealed off Diagon Alley, temporarily evacuated nearby Muggles, and began a thorough search for Peter.
"Felix Felicis is truly a wonderful thing!"
Sirius munched on some food nonchalantly, biding his time as he waited for the right moment to strike. He didn't expect the Ministry to capture Peter, but as long as they flushed him out of hiding, he would be there to intercept him.
Sirius was confident in his ability to corner Peter, especially with the help of Felix Felicis.
He wished he could get his hands on more of the potion, but alas, it was not something that could be used frequently, and brewing it was incredibly challenging.
Nevertheless, even Sirius had to admit that Albert's idea of dividing the potion into smaller doses to grant the user good luck for short periods was ingenious.
Having a full day's worth of good luck was pointless; it was far more useful to have it when it mattered most.
This was the true power of Felix Felicis.
There was no need to worry about overdosing on multiple doses, as the amount consumed was already minuscule. A few extra doses wouldn't make much difference.
Besides, Felix Felicis was notoriously expensive. Who would even consider overdosing on it?
As the Dutch Ministry mobilized Aurors and hired help to quietly seal off Diagon Alley, Peter knew he was in trouble.
"Damn it, what's going on?"
Peter's transformation from a rat back to human form was accompanied by anger. The group of people before him was clearly there for him, and they had even posted his wanted poster.
The Ministry seemed convinced that Peter was hiding in Diagon Alley, deploying large numbers of Aurors to search the area and inviting other ambitious witches and wizards to join the hunt. Peter couldn't believe they had created such a commotion just to capture him. It was driving him crazy.
In the end, Voldemort instructed the unfortunate wizard under his control to create a disturbance. As the uncontrolled fire raged in the alley, Peter seized the opportunity to escape with Voldemort in tow.
It was time to leave the country.
Fortunately, he had stored the potion ingredients elsewhere, or else his efforts during this period would have been in vain once again.
The Dutch Ministry was indeed well-prepared, but Voldemort was no ordinary wizard. He quickly helped Peter break free from the encirclement.
However, just as Peter escaped the cordon and before he could even rejoice, a chilling sensation crept up his spine. As he waved his wand to protect himself, a curse struck him, sending him flying.
"You finally decided to leave your rat hole."
Sirius sneered at the disheveled figure of his old friend, brandishing his wand and launching an offensive against Peter.
With the aid of Felix Felicis, Sirius effortlessly overwhelmed Peter with his spells.
"Sirius!" Peter squealed. "It's you! It's all you!"
Upon realizing that he was being cornered by Sirius, who had pursued him all the way from Britain, Peter understood the situation.
"Die, Peter! And remember to beg for forgiveness from James and Lily!"
Sirius didn't forget Albert's instructions to refrain from unnecessary chatter and go straight for the kill.
Thus, he gave Peter no chance to escape, unleashing the most powerful spells he knew.
Peter, in a state of panic, barely managed to block a few attacks before another explosion sent him flying.
Just as Sirius prepared to deliver the final blow, a chilling sense of danger washed over him. Felix Felicis urged him to act, and he dove to the side, narrowly avoiding a flash of green light that came from his right.
Sirius saw a hideous infant floating in mid-air, wand pointed directly at him.
"Voldemort?" Sirius lashed out at the infant, his instincts telling him that Voldemort was faltering. "How unexpected. I never thought you'd let that coward tail you. When did he become so important to you?"
"Die, Sirius Black!"
Voldemort glared at Sirius with hatred. Although this situation was largely due to circumstances beyond his control, it was still a humiliation for the Dark Lord. He furiously waved his wand, causing the entire street to erupt in a violent explosion.
"Damn."
Sirius realized what had happened and quickly conjured a magical shield to protect himself.
As the dust settled, Sirius stared at the massive crater in the middle of the street, his expression grim. Peter Pettigrew had escaped, slipping through his fingers yet again after all these years.
This was a bitter blow to Sirius' pride.
He regretted not using the Killing Curse during his ambush.
(End of Chapter)
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